The novelette, With Friends Like These, is what I would call a complicated story. Not so much in the plotline, which is fairly straightforward, as in the subtext – the emotional wringer that Meg is being squeezed through as events push her closer and closer to doing something she is dreading.

Perhaps it’s a way of trying to ignore what she knows is coming; maybe it’s something else – but on more than one occasion, Meg lies to herself (and to us) about who and what she is.

Meg tells herself that she’s not an assassin, even though she routinely takes on jobs that require her to kill people – a job she is able to do with cold efficiency. But as we see in both With Friends Like These and Conflict of Interest, there are times when she isn’t comfortable with the assignments she’s been given.

Meg also tells herself she’s amoral, usually refusing to acknowledge her own peculiar brand of morality because she sees it as a potential weakness to someone in her line of work – but it is this inner morality that inspires her to help Liz the way she does (no spoilers here, but you’ll understand if you read the story).

Meg enjoys her work. Most of the time. With Friends Like These is the story of one of the assignments she would have preferred to avoid. It throws her into emotional places she doesn’t like to go, leaving her raw and vulnerable. And, as she says in the story:

“…I was angry with everyone I met or talked to or even knew existed. I wasn’t myself. And in my line of work, that’s not something you can afford. It makes you careless…”

Meg is a character I’ve enjoyed getting to know – a person with a difficult past that has shaped the strong woman she’s become. I like writing about her, and plan to write more of her stories in the future. Hopefully, that’s what you wanted to hear!

A few people have asked if I’m planning to make a print (paper) version of my crime novel, Conflict of Interest available.

The short answer: Yes.

The long answer: Yes, as soon as I’ve sold enough of the ebook copies to pay for the cover design, internal layout, and proof copies. I’m getting close to my goals, but, like all good things, it takes time. I’m trying to be patient – I want to see the book sitting on my bookshelf, too!

In the meantime, spread the word: the more people who buy the ebook, the sooner the print version will come out!

Conflict of Interest – a crime novel by Lauryn ChristopherAvailable on Kindle, Nook, XinXii and Smashwords. $4.99When a professional assassin has a work-related issue, someone usually ends up dead…

The movie is based on the 1993 French film Cible Emouvante (which I’d never heard of before, and, not being fluent in French, will probably never see). It’s about an assassin (Bill Nighy) with a problem: He didn’t kill his target (Emily Blunt) quickly enough, and now he’s not so sure he wants to – although there are times when she pushes him almost to the edge in spite of himself. Toss in an accidental apprentice assassin (Rupert Grint), a bad guy with the worst taste in thugs, and an aging mother who has lovingly scrapbooked all of the assassin’s kills, and the movie could have very easily gone over the top into ridiculousness at many points along the way.

But it didn’t.

The DVD cover blurb bills the film as “…a dangerous comedy…” and while the action is not intense and the suspense low-key, the humor is in a dry, British style that is perfectly timed. The dialog is sharp and crisp, and even when you know what’s going to happen next, you don’t care, because you’re so engaged with *how* they do it.

I don’t recommend movies often, but this was well-written and great fun. If this were a review site, I’d give it five stars. Enjoy!

It’s spring-cleaning time (yeah, I’ve been putting it off for as long as possible), and I am once again amazed at the places in my house that manage to accumulate cat hair when I’m not looking.

Like the top of the fan blades.

It was warm over the weekend, which prompted me to turn on the ceiling fan (it’s still too early to turn on the A/C). And as the blades slowly began to turn, a thin film of dust and unmistakable wisps of cat hair began to float down on the gentle breeze. Yech!

I forget that dust settles on the fan blades during the winter. They’re up over my head and not on my weekly dusting routine (out of sight [overhead], out of mind). And every spring I find myself wondering how the cat hair – which I’m used to vacuuming off the couch and the carpet and every other horizontal surface in the house – manages to find its way up onto the fan blades.

If you like kick-ass heroines, regardless of which side of the law they’re on, you’ve come to the right place. As we get to know each other, I’ll introduce you to them via their own stories — a corporate espionage agent with secrets she’s willing to kill for; a group of girlfriends who can’t seem to go anywhere together without running into more trouble than they bargain for; a working girl just trying to keep her head above water but who just seems to be a magnet for trouble. These are just a few of the amazing women who have materialized on the pages of my computer screen.

I’m looking forward to introducing them to you…and telling you the stories behind their stories — and to getting to know you, through your comments and questions!

Whaddya Mean
'Honor Among Thieves'...?A dinner-party-style
mystery game
Published by Camden Park Press, and provided in PDF format (for ease in printing individual pages for guests/players); variations for 8, 10, or 12 players.
Available on Smashwords, $2.99
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Lauryn Christopher
has written marketing and technical material for the computer industry for too many years to admit. In her spare time, she writes mysteries, putters on seemingly endless home-remodeling projects with her husband, or cooks large quantities of food for game-nights when her grown children and their partners all converge on the house.